Detour

Retirement is great, but I am ready for a vacation from retirement already. We have been getting ready for a retirement party in October, as well as working on the 1959 Airstream. I am not sure how I had enough time for work. As if these projects weren't enough, I found another wrecked Airstream on eBay. We will need everything for the inside of the 1957 Airstream Overlander, so it made sense to bid on it. Well, as luck would have it, we won the bid. I am not sure whether the luck I am referring to is good, or bad. So we packed up the bags last Saturday and the camping gear and started for St. Louis again. It is only 12 hours away, and what else did we have to do anyway. We stopped at McGee creek state park in Oklahoma and pitched a tent. Shelly reminded me several times how crazy it is to camp in a tent when we have 4 Airstreams sitting in our yard. 

 Yup, tent camping!

 That is the reflection of our truck from a 63 Airstream we saw on the road!

 We drove most of the day on Sunday and tent camped in Babler State park just outside of St. Louis. We were not able to pick up the wrecked Airstream until Monday morning. The weather was great for camping both nights, and luckily there were no bugs either. We had a campfire both nights, and watched the stars. We met Dimitry ( Eugene's brother - in - law ) at Copart in St. Louis about 8 in the morning. The Airstream is a 2006 Safari se and is 25 feet long. The trailer was rolled onto it's left side, and the door side was in good shape. The Airstream pulled great even if it was leaning to the right. We drove most of Monday and camped in Village creek state park in Arkansas. We had to clean the trailer up quite a bit, but we got to see what worked, and what didn't. Most of the lights worked, and the plumbing worked, with only one drain leak under the sink. The trailer did not have a shore line, so we did not have electricity, only 12 volt lights. The Mosquitos were bad, and several got into the camper, which kept me awake for several hours trying to swat at them in the dark. We decided to drive all the way home on Tuesday, and left early so we got home around 5 in the afternoon.

 

It looks good from the front right side!

Now, to plan for Houston on Thursday.

Shelly got the 73 Airstream ready to leave for Houston, while I cleaned the barn. We drove down to Lone star lakes rv resort on Thursday, and got there about 4. After setting up, we drove to Ashlee's and Tyler's house. We visited with them until about 9, and decide we were all tired. In the middle of the night, Shelly noticed the floor was wet, and the air conditioner was dripping. She put a pan under the drip until morning. The next morning, I found that a bug had built a nest in the drain line. But that didn't stop the drip. I guess the humidity in Houston was too much for the drain line. So, I got to take the inside cover off and clean the coils and drip pan. That worked! We spent the day at Tyler's and visited. Mom and dad also came down and visited. Ashlee made taco soup for all of us, which was delicious! By the end of the day playing with Parker and Dallas, I was worn out. 

The air conditioner drain was working until the middle of the night, when it decided to stop up again. And drip everywhere. Including the edge of the bed. Ugh. After relevelling the trailer, we got the drip to stop, but everything was wet inside. We drove to Bush international airport and picked up Damon and Erica. Tyler made breakfast for all of us, and we visited until the party. The turnout for the party was good, and we got to visit and take pictures and video. After saying goodbye we packed up the camper and headed home. Erica and Damon went with us and helped us unpack at home. We got to spend some time planning our Arkansas trip in two weeks. It should be a lot less hectic.

1959 Tradewind restoration interior

With the wiring done, I finally get to start putting the interior skins back 

The old skins were in decent shape, but had three layers of paint on them. I found the most effective way to strip the paint was to brush paint stripper on, then wait about five minutes. After the stripper has set a few minutes, I used a wire brush on an angle grinder to get through most of the paint. It makes a mess, but seems to be the quickest. I was able to reuse most of the insulation from the 2003 Airstream. 

This is the left lower side

This shows the right side and back

This is the kitchen back splash, which will not be painted. It is a panel from the outside of the 2003, and had the clearcoat on it. I think it will be a great backsplash for the kitchen. The top section of the interior skin was the biggest. It was 8 and  1/2 feet wide by about 14 feet long. We had to bend it over to get it through the door. Holding it up was a struggle, until Shelly told me to build a prop to hold up the skin. That went a lot easier. Once we got a few Clecos in, the rest went much easier.

Even before being painted, it looks better than before.

The before picture

It was a riveting good time!

Cleaning years off the window trim pieces 

After several thousand rivets, we are still finding holes that need another one. The pneumatic rivet gun helps. Now, on to paint. We had planned on using Zolatone, despite the expense, and hassle of spraying it. What we hadn't planned on was everyone's reaction when we asked for it at the automotive stores. What is Zolatone? No, we don't have anything like that. Maybe you could try so and so. Well so and so hasn't heard of it either. We knew it was over $100 a gallon, and we were told it would take at least 3 gallons of primer and 3 more of Zolatone. We finally called someone who could order it, but we had to wait until Monday. While looking at Lowe's for flooring, we found a gallon of rustoleum for under $30, and it was in stock. So, I am up for a challenge, and always ready to try to save money. Rustoleum it is. I rolled on the primer coat, and it left a nice textured look, which increased with the color coat.

So far so good. I wanted the splattered paint look of Zolatone, so I experimented with spray paint cans. Googling splatter paint does no good. Apparently normal people do not want their spray paint to splatter. There are however, tips on preventing splatter. After about six nozzles, I finally got the right size hole to splatter the paint. I had to hold the can about two feet away from the wall, which wastes some of the paint, but I got the look I was after. I used black, silver and blue splatter.

A small section

 Here you can see the texture of the base coat

 The splatter helps hide the imperfections.

I am happy with the look. Now, all we lack is finishing. The next step will be hooking up lights and batteries. In the meantime, we are having an axle party. Our daughter and son in law's 1971 Tradewind needs new axles, as well as our 1973 Overlander. So we ordered four axles, and we get to put them on today. Axle party!

1959 Tradewind restoration wiring

'Whew, finally past the polishing. For the most part, that is. I still have to polish the propane tanks, and buff out some swirl marks that I couldn't see in the shop. But it is looking good!

 

    This is the before and after shot!

 

This is a picture the previous owner gave to me. This is what it looked like when he got it.

It looks slightly different now!

I started wiring the 110 volt system first, and added a Furrion  twist lock connector, so the shore line can be disconnected. I got the running lights wired next, including the brakes, and breakaway switch. The 12 volt system has taken 3 days so far, and I am not done yet, but it is the majority of the electrical system. 

I moved the jungle of wires from my shop floor to inside the Airstream. Note the thermostat to the air conditioner on the wheel well. The temperature has been at or above 100 just about every day since we got back from New Mexico. The air conditioner has kept it comfortable inside. I have also hooked up the tv antenna, and the vent hood, and run the wires for the solar panels. I also ran the copper gas lines under the trailer and hooked them up to the furnace and water heater. I ordered a 100 watt solar panel, and a 30 amp solar charger from solar penny, and got them 3 days later. I am I impressed with their service and their prices. I mounted the panel on the roof just behind the front vent, and ran an extra wire to the outside compartment to add a second charger if the one is not enough. We have been using a 45 watt panel from Harbor Freight. It is not quite enough to keep the batteries charged in New Mexico, so I also got a second 100 watt panel for our Airstream. I am ready to put the interior skins back on! I realized the interior skins have been off about 10 months now. It's about time to put it back together. 

The solar panel

Our 73 and the 59.